Some legends tell of an ancient god who was masculine and vain. No matter which planes and alien worlds he searched, he never found a creature he deemed worthy of his affections. After timeless millenia of lonliness, he endeavored to create a perfect woman to be his bride. It is said, however, that the woman he made in this way resented his selfishness. She refused his advances, and, returning his favor with only scorn, abandoned him. The god, eternally embittered, became a god of war and destruction, while the woman he had created went on to wed a human mortal. Thus, the dapolyon race was born.

Dapolos resemble impossibly beautiful human women. All dapolos are born female, the offspring of their mother and a human male. In the rare instance of a son being born (approximately 1 out of every 100 births), the child is a normal human with no special traits. Sometimes, the granddaughter of such a human may be born as a dapolo, and go on to seek out the divine calling of her bloodline, resisting evil wherever it may surface on her home plane. Dapolos often act as a diplomat or ambassador, ending wars before they've begun, or steering the course of an influential noble.

Dapolos mature slowly, reaching adulthood around 30 years, and live exceptionally long lives.

All dapolos speak Common and Celestial.

Combat

Dapolos often keep a low profile, using their disguise skill to pose as normal humans until they wish to be noticed. If hostilities erupt, a dapolo will try to sway the attitude of her enemies using diplomacy or intimidation, in hopes of momentarily quelling them to make a graceful escape. When all else fails, dapolos rely on light, expertly crafted weapons and armor, along with the sheer confidence to succeed in a head-on confrontation.

A dapolo gives off an aura of supreme confidence that can distract her enemies. Activating this ability is a free action. Any hostile creature within 30 feet of the dapolo must make a DC 15 Will save. On a failure, creatures with fewer than or equal HD to the dapolo become shaken for 5d6 rounds, while creatures with more HD than the dapolo become dazzled for 1d6 rounds instead. Whether or not the save is successful, that creature cannot be affected again by the same dapolo’s disconcerting presence for 24 hours.

The save DC for this ability is equal to 10 + (1/2 the dapolo's class levels) + Charisma modifier.

Tuatarans are the bipedal descendants of dragons and humanoids, similar to half-dragons. They are generally around six feet tall and weigh from 200 to 300 pounds, with a muscular frame and chisled, draconic features. A tuataran's body is covered in fine bronze-colored scales; however, a tuataran's coloration and markings vary greatly depending on the tribe and geography. The scales of a mountain tuataran are generally silver at the edges, while the hide of a forest tuataran is a dark, mottled brown and green. The scales of tuatarans native to arid climates have a spectacular contrasting blue-on-yellow pattern. Tuatarans have small, vestigial tails, and some tribes exhibit small, wing-like appendages.

Tuatarans are a well-rounded lot; each member of the tribe is unique in choice of feats and skills, even among those who choose to advance their natural abilities instead of training in a character class. High-level tuatarans often split their dragon levels and class levels equally, gaining some class benefits such as spellcasting ability, but letting their premium racial progression round them out.

When taking levels in a character class, comparatively few tuatarans have (or wish to embrace) the rigid discipline necessary for classes such as the monk, paladin, or even wizard. Because of this, many tuatarans choose to hone their innate spellcasting abilities and become sorcerers. Others choose more martial paths, relying on racial benefits like high Strength and Constitution and adequate natural armor. Surprisingly, tuataran barbarians are almost unheard of.

All tuatarans speak Common and Draconic. Many tribes worship dragon totems.

Combat

Tuatarans normally try to use thrown weapons and reach weapons (and long-range spells if a tuataran sorcerer is present) to keep their foes at a distance. When forced into melee combat, tuatarans fight fiercely, preferring two-handed weapons.

Tuatarans who take fighter levels often gain the Exotic Weapon Proficiency (spiked chain) feat to take advantage of that weapon's variable reach. A tuataran can also use its clawlike hands as effectively as if it were holding a weapon.

Nothing is valued more to Tuataran sorcerers than Mithril armor, which grants them some protection from attacks with a lesser chance of spell failure than normal armor.

Tuataran Mage

Tuataran mages are well-respected within the tuataran society. Sorcery comes naturally to their race (thanks to their draconic heritage) and proves a valuable asset to any tribe.

Combat

Typically, a tuataran mage will attack with long range spells such as magic missile and lightning bolt while staying as far away as possible by casting fly at the beginning of an encounter. If enemies close in, a mage might use alter self to gain the natural armor and natural weapons of a small green dragon wyrmling (though this lowers their armor class significantly). If a given mage often travels alone, consider exchanging fly for a different spell, such as hold person. Such a mage would cast alter self at the beginning of any encounter, enjoying the benefits of their transformation throughout (including the wyrmling's fly speed).

Favored Classes: Dragon and Sorcerer. A multiclass tuataran's sorcerer class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing. In addition, a character's “monster class” (in this case, dragon) is always a favored class.

Level adjustment +1.

Table: The Tuataran Paragon class

Level

BaseAttackBonus

FortSave

RefSave

WillSave

Special

1st

+1

+2

+2

+2

Sorcerous blood

2nd

+2

+3

+3

+3

Natural armor increase

3rd

+3

+3

+3

+3

Charisma +2

Tuataran paragons have the following game statistics.

Abilities

Thanks to their Dragon type, tuatarans are already very well-rounded in terms of skills, hit points, and attack bonus. Most tuataran paragons are sorcerers, favoring a high Charisma score which increases their spellcasting ability as well as being (along with Wisdom) important for many tuataran paragon class skills.

All of the following are class features of the tuataran paragon class.

Weapon and Armor Proficiency

Tuataran paragons gain no proficiency with any weapons or armor.

Sorcerous Blood (Ex)

A character's tuataran paragon levels stack with sorcerer levels for purposes of determining the caster level of arcane spells granted through sorcerer levels. For example, a 2nd-level sorcerer/3rd-level tuataran paragon's caster level is 5th for the spells she can cast as a sorcerer. This increased caster level affects only spells that the character can cast; it does not give her access to higher-level spells or more spells per day.